Feeding mechanism



mwm

Aug. 28, 1923.

W. M. HEPBURN FEEDING MECHANI SM Original Filed March 22. s Sheets-Shet 1 mwm 8 Aug. 28, 1923.

' W. M. HEPBURN FEEDING MECHANI SM Original Filed March 22 1921 35116905-51'1691? 2 Qwwemtoz /@Z4@ 74:. W M

W. M. HEPBURN FEEDING MECHANISM Aug. 28,1923. 1,46%,M8

Original Filed March 22 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Aug, 28, I923,

WILLIAM M. HEPBURN, OF NEW YORK. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE SURFACE COMBUSTION CO. INCORPORATED, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

FEEDING MECHANISM.

Application filed March 22, 1921, Serial No. 454,589. Renewed February 8, 19 23.

' To all whom it may concern termed rails.

Be it known that I, WILLIAM M. Hm BURN, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, ,in the 'county of New York and State of New York. have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feeding Mechanism, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying-drawings, forming a part of the same. J

This invention relates to feeding mechanism which while peculiarly adapted to moving articles through a heating furnace may nevertheless be used wherever it is desired to convey an article.

The feeding mechanism comprises two or more relatively rcciprocatory longitudinal members which may for convenience be The operative surface of each rail is formed to provide a series of engaging surfaces and a series of rearwardly sloping inclines alternating with said engaging surfaces, so arranged that the relative movement of the rails causes the article placed upon them to move forward along the rails.

The feeding mechanism takes the place of a moving conveyor, but is much simpler and more economical to construct than such a conve-yer and may be operated with ma-' terially less consumption of power than a moving conveyer. It may be applied to carrying articles through a furnace in which so high a temperature is maintained that the use of a moving conveyer is impracticable. F v

In the accompanying drawings I have shown an embodiment of the invention comprising a mechanism for feeding crank shafts or similar articles through a heating furnace. In the drawings Fig. 1 is a plan view of the device showingthe furnace sectioned upon the line 11 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the device partly sectioned on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section upon the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the rails and a crank shaft upon them; and

Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 are fragmentary sectional elevations on the lines 5--5 of Figs. 1 and 3 showing two of the rails and the portion of the crank shaft supported by them. Fig. 5 illustrates the position of these parts at thejbeginning of the forward stroke of the movable rail, Fig. 6 shows them during the forward stroke, Fig. 7 at the end of the forward stroke, and Fig. 8 during the rearward stroke.

The furnace 10 shown in the drawings may bev tunnel shaped. The details of its construction are not material to the present invention. The feeding-mechanism includes four rails 11', 11, 12, 12 which extend through the furnace and project through openings at both ends of it. I The rails are supported upon transverse beams 15. Those of the beams 15 which are within the furnace may be. set into the floor of the fur- 16. Certain of the rails are adapted to be reciprocated relatively to. the others. In the embodiment shown the rails 11, 12 are stationary and fixedly attached to at least one of the beams 15. It is most desirable to secure the fixed rails only at one end, as, for example, by attaching them to the extreme left-hand beam 15 (Figs. 1 and 2) and to leave them free to slide longitudinally upon the other beams 15 to permit their expansion or contraction under changes of temperature. Between the rails 11, 12 are spacing pieces 17, Figs. 1 and 3. The rails 11 12 are capable of longitudinal movement on all the supports 15 and are guided between the outeredges of the inner rails and the raised portions '18 at each side of each of the supports 15 (Fig.

The operative surfaces of each ofthe fixed rails 11, 12 are formed to provide a series of engaging surfaces 30. 31, 32, etc., and a series of rearwardly sloping inclines 40, 41, 42, etc. alternating with the engaging surfaces. The operative surfaces of each of the movable rails 11', 12' are provided with similar engaging surfaces 30', 31, 32', etc., and similar inclines 40', 41', 42', etc. In the form shown in the drawing the engaging surfaces 30, 31, 32, etc., and 30', 31', 32, etc., are vertical and at the topof each of the inclines 40, 41, 42, etc., and 40', 41', 42', etc., is a short horizontal surface 40, 41, etc. These details are, however, not essential to the operation of the device. It

is sufficient that the engaging surfaces of each rail be adapted to engage the article to be moved and to prevent rearwardmovement of the article relative to the rail; that is to say, to prevent the article from moving rearwardly when the rail is stationary, or to cause the article to move forward with the rail when the rail is moved forward. It i sufficient that the inclines of each rail have a general rearward slope permitting relative rearward movement of the rail with respect to the article. Such relative move ment may be either a rearward movement of the rail when the article is stationary, or a forward movement of the article when the rail is stationary, or simultaneous forward movement of the article and rearward movement of the rail.

Means are provided for giving the rails 11, 12 a reciprocatory movement relative to the rails 11, 12. This reciprocatory movement must have a component longitudinal of the rails, the stroke of this component betherefore, the reciprocatory movement of ing not lessthan the distance between successive engaging surfaces 30, 31, 32, etc., and successive engaging surfaces 30, 31, 32', etc. If desired, the reciprocatory movement may also have a component transverse to the rails, but this is not needed in the conveying of crank shafts and similar articles. In the form of the apparatus illustrated,

the rails 11, 12 has no transverse compo nent, so that the direction of the reciprocation is directly longitudinal of the rails.

' This is, however, not essential.

Operating mechanism 18 provided for giving the rails 11', 12 a reciprocatory movemcnfiin the direction of their length. While any orm of operating mechanism adapted to cause such reciprocation may be used, the operating mechanism illustrated has been found a desirable means for giving the slow reciprocatory movement required for feeding articles through the furnace. The mechanism includes a motor 20 connected by a belt to a pulley 21 on a worm shaft 22. The worm on the shaft 22 drives a gear on the worm shaft 23, and the worm on the shaft 23 drives a gear on the eccentric shaft 24. An eccentric band mounted on an eccentric on the shaft 24 oscillates the lower end of a beam 25 which is pivotally mounted at 26. The upper end of the beam 25 is connected to a transverse shaft 27, the outer ends of which are mounted in fittings 28 .at tached one to each of the rails 11, 12'.

In the use of the device described. the crank shafts to be fed through the furnace are placed upon the rails at their rear end, that is, the left hand end in Figs. 1 and 2. The reciprocation of the rails 11", 12' causes each crank shaft to travel forward into the furnace 10, through the furnace, and out at the opposite end of the furnace.

The operation of the feeding mechanism may best be understood from Figs. 4 to 8. The crank shaft A to be fed through the furnace has four cranks A A A A which are placed upon the rails 11', 11, 12,

12', respectively, as shown in Fig. 4. The cranks A and A? are in line with each other, and the cranks A and A are in line with each other. As the operation of the feeding i'nechanism upon each side of the center line is the same it is sufiicient to consider'the rails 11' and 11 and the cranks A and A which are supported by them. The operation of these parts is shown in Figs. 5 to 8. At the beginning of the forward stroke ofthe rail 11 the crank A lies on the incline 40' and against the engaging surface 30 of the rail 11, and the crank A lies on the incline and against the engaging surface 30 of the rail 11, as shown in Fig. As the rail 11' mgves forward with respect to the rail 11, the engaging surface 30 of the rail 11 pushes the crank A forward. This pulls the entire crank shaft A forward and draws the crank A up the incline 40of the rail 11, as shown in Fig. 6 and also in Fig. 4. The forward motion of the rail 11 continues until the crank A has been pulled clear up the incline 40 of the rail 11 and drops down upon the incline 41 and against the'engaging surface 31 of the lit) rail 11, so that the parts occupy the position illustrated in Fig. 7. The rail 11' then begins its rearward stroke. During this stroke the crank shaft A is retained against rearward movement by the engagement of the crank A with the engaging surface 31 of the rail 11. Consequently, the incline 40' of the rail 11' slides under the crank A raising the crank A as shown in Fig. 8. ,The

rearward motion of the rail 11 continues until the incline 40 of the rail 11 has moved clear under the crank A permitting the crank A to drop down upon the incline 41' and against the engaging surface 31' of the rail 11. The crank shaft A then occupies a position similar to that shown in Fig. 5 except that the crank A. is now upon the incline 41 and against the engaging surface 31 of the, rail 11, and the crank A is now on the incline 41 and against the engaging surface 31 of the rail 11. Thus, one complete reciprocation of the rail 11 has moved the crank shaft A forward a distance equal to that by'which the successive engaging surfaces of the rails are separated.

From the above description of the operation of the feeding mechanism it is apparent that the forward movement of the crank shaft results from the relative reciprocatory movement of the rails which may. of course, be attained by reciprocating either of the rails while retaining the other stationary, or by giving them each a reciprocatory movement so timed that the forward stroke of Hill one rail corresponds to the rearward stroke of the other.

Among the advantages of this feeding mechanism when applied to a heating furnace are the following The only moving parts Within the furnace are portions of the reciprocatory rails 11', 12v so that lubrication within the furnace is not required. 1e power consumption of the device is small as it is necessary merely to give a short reciprocatory movement to the moving rails. A portion of the rails is retained outside of the furnace, while the portion of the rails within the furnace is not moved out of the furnace, so that no part of the rails' is subjected to changes of temperature which would cause the material of which they are made to deterlorate. The feeding mechanism is,

therefore, greatly superior to a moving con veyer which, because it possesses none of the advantages above enumerated has been found unsatisfactory as a means for feeding articles through a heating furnace.

It should be clearly understood, however, that the utility of the feeding mechanism is by no means limited to its use in connection with furnaces, as it is capable of use whenever it is desired to convey articles. Furthermore, as pointed outin connection with the detailed description, it is not necessary that the direction of the relative reciprocatory movement of the rails be exactly longitudinal of the rails provided that it has a sufficient component longitudinal of the rails. The engaging surfaces and inclines of the rails need not have the exact form shown in the drawings, nor is it essential that the engaging surfaces be equally spaced provided that the distance between no two successive engaging surfaces is greater than the length of the stroke of the longitudinal component of the reciprocatory movement.

What is claimed is:

1. Mechanism for moving an article having spaced transverse members, comprising two rails having operative surfaces so located as to cooperate with said spaced transverse paembers respectively, and means for causing a relative reciprocatory movement between said rails having a component longitudinal of' the rails, the operative surface of each rail being formed to prevent rearward movement of the article relative to the rail by engagement with the transverse member with which it cooperates and to raise said transverse member and pass under it during relative rearward movement of the rail with respect to the article.

ing two cranks out of line with each other, comprising two parallel rails having oper-v .ative surfaces so located as to engage said cranks respectively, and means for causing a relative longitudinal reciprocatory movement between the rails, the operative surfaces of each rail being formed to prevent cans for moving a crank shaft havrearward movement of the crank shaft relative to the rail by engagement 'With the crank with which said surface cooperates and to raise said crank and pass under it during relative rearward movement of the rail with respect to'the crank shaft.

3. Mechanism for moving a crank shaft having four cranks of which one pair are in alignment with each other and of which the other pair are in alignment with each other but out of alignment of th first-mentioned pair, comprising two fixed parallel rails having operative surfaces so located as to cooperate with two aligned cranks of said crank shaft respectively, two movable rails having operative surfaces so located as to cooperate with the two other aligned cranks of said crank shaft respectively, and means The use of the word rails in referring for giving said movable rails a reciprocato the relatively reciprocatory longitudina tory movement, the operative surfaces of members is not intended to imply that eac said fixed rails being formed to prevent of these members negl consist of a single piece of metal. It is apparent that where .one of the longitudinal members is stationary this stationary member may be constructed of separate pieces of metal forming the successive engaging surfaces and inclines and that these pieces of metal may even be spaced from one another. Such an arrangement is, however, equivalent, to the type of longitudinal member shown in the drawings, and should be understood to he included in the term rail. If desired, the

movable longitudinal members may be made of separate sections attached together and if the members are of great length, such sec tional construction is advantageous in reducing warping. Such sectional construction should be understood to be included in the term rail.

set. my hand in the presence oftwo sub-L scribing witnesses.

WILLIAM M. HEPBIIRN.

Witnesses: i

W. H. GRE'NzI'o, HILDA M. Bron. 

